The Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta girls’ basketball team dropped to 12-3 in West Central Conference play with a 53-51 loss to Melrose Thursday.

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The Dutchmen rallied from a near double-digit deficit late to improve to 6-7 in the conference. Emily Goerdt scored on a layup with 15 seconds remaining after getting set up from a Tayler Reller pass to break a 51-51 tie for Melrose.

The Tigers got off a couple of shots afterward, but the clock ran out on the visitors.

“For the first time in a long time our defense let us down,” explained coach Dale Henrich. “We seemed confused at times and couldn’t stop the Dutchmen’s drive.

“Like in our last meeting we put them on the free-throw line too often and they connected on six shots in the second half, where we only got four throws for the entire game.”